This invention relates to a support for securing a circuit board on an apertured panel, and is more particularly concerned with a support of the character described which has a slot for slideably receiving and a tab for releaseably holding a circuit board therein, and which has a quarter turn fastener engageable in the panel aperture, said fastener and aperture having cooperating means for receiving the support in the aperture and locking means for mounting the fastener upright on the panel upon manipulating the fastener a quarter turn in the aperture.
Supports embodying the features of the invention are particularly useful for installations where the circuit board must be secured rigid and in a selected position, but cushioned to withstand shock, as, for example, where the equipment in which the devices are installed is mobile or subject to vibrations. Furthermore, devices embodying the invention permit easy removal of the circuit board for repair or replacement without disturbing the mounting of the support on the panel.
Supports embodying the present invention may be used in pairs spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate a circuit board of selected dimensions bridging them, and several circuit boards may be mounted in series. The support has a vertically extending shaft, the edges of which have a slot running its length for slideably receiving therein the edge of a circuit board. The lower end of the slot terminates in a stop for holding the bottom edge of the circuit board corner, and the free end of the shaft has a flexible tab normally blocking the slot which may be manipulated to open it for inserting or removing the circuit board.
The end of the shaft remote from the tab and adjacent the stop has a quarter turn fastening member for securing the support onto an apertured panel. This fastener may have a flexible arched base and central post depending therefrom, the end of the post terminating in wings extending outwardly therefrom and spaced away from the base a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the panel.
When the post and wings are inserted into the panel aperture, shaped to receive them, with the base on one side of the panel and the wings on the other side of the panel, the support may be rotated 45.degree. until shoulder means carried by the free ends of the arched base snap engage into the aperture, thus centering and locking the support rigidly on the panel.
Preferably, the circuit board support guide embodying the present invention is molded in one piece from plastic dielectric material.